Pro Football Reference

Last updated

Pro Football Reference
Pro Football Reference logo.svg
Available inEnglish
Owner Sports Reference
URL www.pro-football-reference.com
LaunchedDecember 2000;24 years ago (2000-12)
Current statusOnline

Pro Football Reference (PFR) is an online statistics database for professional American football maintained by Sports Reference. The site provides career statistics for players, teams, and games, as well as records and NFL draft history. [1] [2] PFR was established independently by Doug Drinen in 2000, and became part of Sports Reference in 2007. Sports Reference also publishes similar statistics websites for basketball, baseball, and hockey. [3] [4]

Contents

History

The Pro Football Reference website and database was established by Doug Drinen in December 2000. [5] In 2007, PFR merged with the previously unrelated Baseball Reference and Basketball Reference to form Sports Reference. [6] [5] In December 2019, PFR introduced the Pro Football Hall of Fame monitor. The purpose of this monitor is to apply a formula to quantify player contributions during their career (including All-Pro selections, Pro Bowl selections, various awards, and career statistics) and to highlight where Pro Football Hall of Fame players rank in comparison, often with the goal of estimating a player's chances of making the Hall of Fame. [7] [8] [9] Drinen is also responsible for the creation of the "approximate value" statistic, a metric used to quantify the value of a player's season. [10] [11]

In 2000, John Turney and Nick Webster, members of the Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA), conducted extensive research to create a more complete record of sacks in the NFL. After examining the play-by-play records of every NFL team as well as game film at NFL films they compiled a list of players with 100 sacks beginning in 1960. [12] [13] These statistics, both the official and unofficial sack counts, are counted and displayed separately on the site from 1960 onwards. [14]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Pro Football Stats, History, Scores, Standings, Playoffs, Schedule & Records". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  2. ↑ "All Game Scores in Pro Football History". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on July 20, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  3. ↑ Kramer, Staci D. (February 17, 2009). "Fantasy Sports Ventures Takes Minority Stake In Sports Reference LLC". CBS News . Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  4. ↑ Wagner, James (February 13, 2019). "From a Church in Philadelphia, Sports Reference Informs the World" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on April 4, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  5. 1 2 "About Sports Reference". Sports Reference . Archived from the original on August 2, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  6. ↑ "About pro-football-reference.com". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  7. ↑ "PFR HOF Monitor: Methodology". Sports Reference . Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  8. ↑ Coller, Matthew (February 14, 2023). "What the Hall of Fame Monitor says about the Vikings and football immortality". Sports Illustrated . Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  9. ↑ Greenberg, Neil (January 22, 2021). "Sorry, but Philip Rivers is not a Hall of Fame quarterback". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Approximate Value". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on February 12, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  11. ↑ Stifford, Lee (January 18, 2018). "Pro Football Reference lists 5 Eagles among top 100 players in Approximate Value rating". USA Today . Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  12. ↑ Lynch, Mike (July 12, 2021). "Pre-1982 Sacks Added To Pro Football Reference". Sports Reference . Archived from the original on October 15, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  13. ↑ Morrison, Jay (July 19, 2021). "Seeking sacks: How two researchers got Deacon Jones, Bubba Baker and others the credit they deserve" . The Athletic . Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  14. ↑ "NFL Sacks Career Leaders (since 1960)". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on August 1, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
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